Inequality and Democracy in (Southern) Africa

Mainstream analyses of contemporary democratization processes in sub-Saharan Africa have tended to explain their pitfalls and shortcomings by pointing to the lack of strong state institutions and the prevalence of neo-patrimonial practices. This chapter provides an alternative view by investigating the role of inequalities and social and economic deprivation in hampering democratic consolidation in sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Southern Africa in particular. After analysing the evolution of inequality and poverty on the continent during the last decades and discussing their causes, the chapter considers the short circuit between inequalities and democratization within the countries of Southern Africa, a region historically beset by racial discrimination and high poverty rates, whose governments today show a growing predisposition to authoritarian practices. In so doing, the chapter sheds new light on the multiple challenges democratic transitions currently face in (Southern) Africa and provides an original contribution to the theoretical debate on the relationship between inequality and democracy in Africa.